Patrick Roy’s Islanders are 8-0 in overtime—best in the NHL—after Saturday’s 4-3 escape in Columbus, turning a former weakness into the single biggest swing in this year’s Eastern wild-card race.
FromOTL laughingstock to 3-on-3 kings
Two seasons ago the Islanders coughed up 16 loser points—most in the Metro—and missed the playoffs by three. Fast-forward to March 1: they’re 8-0 in 3-on-3 play, a league-best mark that has already flipped six potential regulation defeats into banked points. That 12-point swing is the difference between the second wild card and golfing in April.
The latest theft came Saturday in Nationwide Arena. After Jean-Gabriel Pageau forced overtime by banking a centering feed off a Columbus skate with 9:01 left, New York won the opening draw, held the puck for 56 straight seconds, and watched Simon Holmstrom wire a one-timer off Tony DeAngelo’s chaotic rim-out for a 4-3 victory.
Inside Roy’s 3-on-3 blueprint
Coach Patrick Roy doesn’t leave overtime to artistry. The Hall-of-Fame goalie scripts three micro-systems—one for each forward pair—and demands man-on-man switches at the red line to eliminate odd-man rushes.
- Horvat line: low-cycle funnel, looking for weak-side pop from Holmstrom or Noah Dobson.
- Barzal line: high-tempo weave, designed to freeze one defender and create a seam to Brock Nelson at the dots.
- Pageau trio: possession bleed, cycling until exhaustion forces a bad change, then pouncing on a tired stick.
The Islanders have outshot opponents 42-21 during 3-on-3 play and allowed only three high-danger chances, NHL stat logs show.
Face-off veneer hides real edge
New York is technically below 50% on overtime draws this season, but Casey Cizikas and Horvat cheat the chip: both wingers crash immediately, turning a neutral-zone loss into an instant retrieval. Columbus never touched the puck Saturday once the Isles lost the drop—proof that possession, not the draw, is Roy’s obsession.
Sorokin’s silent assassin role
Goalie Ilya Sorokin has faced only 23 shots in 14:48 of 3-on-3 action—an 8.8-per-60 rate that ranks second-lowest among starters. His calming stick freezes dump-ins, allowing defensemen to reset and burn clock. On Saturday he kicked aside 27 of 30, then enjoyed the final 1:57 off as his teammates played keep-away.
Playoff math: 12 points in the bank
Via updated NHL standings, the Islanders sit six points up on Detroit for the last wild card with 18 games left. Remove the overtime bonus and they’d be two points back with fewer regulation wins—a precarious edge. Every coach in the East is now screening the Isles’ OT film hunting for cracks; none have found one since October.
What could still crack the code
- Injury roulette: Dobson logged 1:24 of the 1:57 OT Saturday; if he’s forced out, Roy has only Ryan Pulock as a proven puck-carrier.
- Shootout drop-off: The flip side of 3-on-3 perfection is an 0-5 record in breakaway contests. If teams survive the five-minute session, the Isles’ skills-challenge woes resurface.
- Schedule squeeze: Eight of the final 18 games come against current playoff clubs with top-10 3-on-3 scoring—Carolina, Toronto, New Jersey.
Final word
The Islanders turned a historic weakness into lethal currency. While rivals treat overtime like a coin flip, Roy has minted a system that feels closer to a rigged slot. If they maintain even half this clip down the stretch, the East’s first-round matchup nightmare won’t be who draws Boston—it’ll be who draws the team that simply refuses to lose past 60 minutes.
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